# Obvious things about a creative work you realize after the millionth time (OPEN SPOILERS POSSIBLE) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117 "2009-07-24T13:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 95
**Author:** ![Cephkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cephkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cephkiller)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1881 "2014-05-15T15:52:08Z")
I’m a long time lurker but this is my first post. I can’t believe such a mundane topic has prompted me to finally participate! Anyway, I’ve walked past some celebrity gossip magazine in the break room at work several times. The cover features the cast of a television show called “Orange Is the New Black.” I’ve been occasionally hearing references to this show for a while, but I never really considered the meaning of the title. Just now it dawned on me that the magazine features someone in a prison jumpsuit…an ORANGE prison jumpsuit. Now I get it! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1882 "2014-06-09T14:37:23Z")
So it’s not something that I “realized”, but upon reading it, it makes a helluva lot of sense. Fabienne in _Pulp Fiction_ was pregnant. She probably found out that day or a bit earlier. That makes the “I want a pot belly” scene understandable, her needing to tell Butch “something” when he fell asleep, and her crying jag in reaction to not getting the blueberry pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1883 "2014-06-09T23:11:24Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > As for Tweety, Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweety](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweety) lists his aliases as both Tweety and Tweety Bird along with his fictitious species, Tweety Bird. > > [Tweety Pie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039923/) (1947) was Tweety’s first appearance. Perhaps that’s what the clue was pointing to. > > And Tweety is a male, BTW. That was the first short to pair Sylvester and Tweety. Tweety’s first appearance was [A Tale of Two Kitties](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035414/). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1884 "2014-06-10T00:32:46Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > That was the first short to pair Sylvester and Tweety. Tweety’s first appearance was [A Tale of Two Kitties](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035414/). Indeed. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1885 "2014-06-10T01:22:59Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > I always thought it was weird for underwear to use anthropomorphic fruit as its brand. I never saw the connection between briefs and grapes. You never heard of “grape smugglers”? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1886 "2014-06-20T06:11:23Z")
Tangled is one of my favorite movies; I’ve seen it many times, and I only just realized that of _course_ Rapunzel’s animal companion Pascal had to be a chameleon. Gothel would never have allowed Rapunzel a pet; therefore Rapunzel had to go behind her back. Also, consider this. Your best friend is a chameleon. You have spent years of your life painting the entire interior of your house in striking, vivid details. You yourself are one of the smartest people in motion picture history. Those hide and seek games must have been EPIC! ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1887 "2014-07-09T12:57:28Z")
Is the rap group Naughty By Nature named in the pattern of that (seemingly mostly British) expression where if you’re name was Randy you might introduce yourself at a cocktail party as “Randy in name, if not randy by nature”? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1888 "2014-07-09T16:17:50Z")
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na Batman! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1889 "2014-07-09T16:55:04Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > My understanding of that scene was that she was so into him that she lied about Fawn telling her - not that she knew it was a scam. Ha. MY take was that Fawn actually did have a hot-and-heavy thing going on and had told Shelly all about it, but hadn’t mentioned his name, so when Otter showed up and introduced himself as Frank Lyman (minus the Teenagers) from Amherst, she had no reason to doubt him. Until he asked her to get three dates for his friends. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1890 "2014-07-09T20:33:33Z")
I’ve been hearing “My Fair Lady” ever since it came out on LP, back in the 50s. It was my father’s first stereo recording, and I bought my own on LP, cassette and CD. But it was several decades before I got the “Mayfair (my-fair) lady” pun. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1891 "2014-07-13T03:57:17Z")
This is about a _body_ of work: That all of those great, immaculate-sounding background vocals on Carpenters’ records of the 1970s were done by… the two Carpenters siblings, multi-tracking themselves ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1892 "2014-07-13T04:10:38Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Having grown up Catholic, I always heard it as a pun on the phrase “fruit of thy womb” from the Hail Mary. If FotL was Catholic, it would be called Gird of the Loins 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1893 "2014-07-13T11:26:39Z")
In the book **Ballet Shoes** , by Noel Streatfeild, one unnamed character is auditioning for _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_. He doesn’t get the part, because of his accent. He is described as pronouncing “Hail” as “Hile”. Since the book is set in London in the 1930’s, I assumed that he was a German refugee, but I think now that the character had a Cockney accent, like Eliza Doolittle. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1894 "2014-07-15T14:04:07Z")
Yesterday I remarked to someone “Hurry up. The time’s a-wasting.” Right. And The Time’s They Are A-Changing. I don’t know for sure that Dylan heard the old saying, but it was popular when I was a child. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1895 "2014-07-16T02:17:49Z")
There is an older version of the present tense in English (which nowadays consists of a form of “to be” followed by the verb with the suffix “ing”). The older version was to have a form of “to be” followed by prefix “a-”, the verb, and the suffix “ing”. So it was formerly standard to say things like: I am a-hoping to meet you sometime. The bells are a-ringing. So what happened was that the prefix “a-” disappeared to create the current version of the present tense. I believe that these older verb forms derived from even earlier forms like: I am at hoping to meet you sometime. The bells are at ringing. However, I cannot find any online reference to the history of these verb forms. I hope I’ve got this right, but I can’t swear to it. Perhaps someone else on the SDMB can correct me. In any case, the point is that Dylan didn’t base the “a-changing” on any one sentence like “Time’s a-wasting” but rather on the old-fashioned verb form in general. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1896 "2014-08-02T22:31:01Z")
I’m a fan of a popular Korean pop girl group, and have been for a few years, but I’ve always been puzzled as to why their fans call themselves, collectively, “Blackjacks”. That just doesn’t make any sense for a band called “2NE1” … oh, wait. :smack: I just made the connection a couple days ago. My only explanation is that perhaps, the first time I saw fans identify as “Blackjacks”, my first thought was of the (supposedly) non-lethal weapon, not the card game. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1897 "2014-08-02T22:46:18Z")
Only recently did I realize the [Ice-T song “Rhyme Pays”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKckKbZ3O9w) has a 12-bar blues structure – that is, each verse is six measures long instead of the standard four. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1898 "2014-08-03T18:17:16Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I’m a fan of a popular Korean pop girl group, and have been for a few years, but I’ve always been puzzled as to why their fans call themselves, collectively, “Blackjacks”. That just doesn’t make any sense for a band called “2NE1” … oh, wait. :smack: What does “2NE1” (to anyone?) have to do with blackjack, the card game? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1899 "2014-08-03T18:39:58Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > What does “2NE1” (to anyone?) have to do with blackjack, the card game? Twenny-One. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1900 "2014-08-03T19:00:30Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > What does “2NE1” (to anyone?) have to do with blackjack, the card game? It’s correctly pronounced both “Twenty-One” and “To Anyone”. But the “Twenty-One” pronunciation is more common. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=94) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=96)